but, you said it best, it was the way the israeli government set down a marker. the palestinians violate their agreements with us. and, with the united states. by going unilaterally to the u.n. to declare a state. all of our agreements say, there is no alternative to direct talks between us and the palestinians. we are still ready to have the talks, ready to have them today if they join us at the table. if not, we are going to have to take measures that will enable us to defend ourselves and our citizens in the future. >> chris: well, i want to button up the issue with e-1. you know, you put your spin on it and the u.s. talked about it driving a wedge into the west bank and making it more difficult to have a viable contiguous state. the question is, is israel necessarily going to build on e-1? or are you saying it depends? >> it is a preliminary stage. that was announced, last week. it could take years to fulfill that. let's see if the palestinians come back to the negotiating table. i want to reiterate, we are ready to negotiate today. here in washington, ramall